| Course | MGT 474 Project Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Scope statement and WBS |
| Length | About 1,088 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MGT 474 Module 3
Nine Deliverables and Not One More: Scope and Work Breakdown for a River Otter Exhibit
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
MGT 474: Project Management
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Nine Deliverables and Not One More: Scope and Work Breakdown for a River Otter Exhibit
Meadowlark Zoo's river otter exhibit, a composite project in Wichita, Kansas, was chartered in January 2024 with a budget of $1.85 million and a public opening by Memorial Day 2026. The zoo's previous exhibit, for lions, ran 40% over budget, in large part because its scope grew after design began: larger holding areas, a second viewing deck and new drainage were added one by one, without anyone weighing the total. The otter exhibit's scope must be defined before design and protected afterward. This paper presents the scope statement, the work breakdown structure and the process for controlling changes.
Scope Statement
The PMBOK Guide treats scope as the sum of the products, services and results a project will provide, and stresses that what is excluded matters as much as what is included (Project Management Institute, 2021).
Project objective. Design and build a river otter exhibit with underwater viewing, holding facilities and interpretive graphics, opening to the public by Memorial Day 2026 within $1.85 million.
Deliverables. Project management records; design documents; site and utilities; habitat and pool; life support systems; holding building; visitor experience areas, including the viewing window, paths and graphics; animal readiness, including arrival, quarantine and training; and opening and closeout.
Acceptance criteria. The pool holds water with no measurable leaks over seven days; the viewing window passes the manufacturer's load test; water quality meets the veterinarian's targets for thirty consecutive days; keepers sign off that holding areas can be serviced safely; the exhibit meets the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' standards for otters; graphics are approved by education staff.
Exclusions. Parking lot changes, new food or retail outlets, a second species, changes to the neighboring beaver pond and permanent staff hiring, which belongs to operations.
Constraints. Budget of $1.85 million, opening by Memorial Day 2026 and construction on the former waterfowl pond site.
Assumptions. Donor installments arrive on schedule; two otters are available from partner zoos; the city issues permits within ten weeks.
Building the Work Breakdown Structure
The Project Management Institute's practice standard for work breakdown structures describes a WBS as a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team (Project Management Institute, 2019). Its central principle, the 100% rule, requires that the WBS include all the work defined by the project scope, and that the children of each element add up to the whole of their parent, with nothing outside scope. The WBS describes what will be delivered, using nouns, not the order in which work happens.
| WBS code | Level 2 deliverable | Work packages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Project management | 4: charter and plans, reporting, procurement, risk management |
| 2 | Design | 4: concept, final design, animal care review, permit drawings |
| 3 | Site and utilities | 4: site survey, drainage, electrical, water supply |
| 4 | Habitat and pool | 5: excavation, pool shell, rockwork, plantings, fencing |
| 5 | Life support systems | 4: filtration, pumps, water heating, controls |
| 6 | Holding building | 4: structure, dens, keeper area, mechanical |
| 7 | Visitor experience | 4: viewing window, viewing area, paths, graphics |
| 8 | Animal readiness | 3: acquisition, quarantine, training |
| 9 | Opening and closeout | 2: opening event, lessons learned and final accounts |
Why Project Management Is in the WBS
New project managers often leave project management itself out of the WBS, treating planning, reporting and procurement as overhead. The 100% rule does not allow this. The otter exhibit's project management work, about 6% of the budget, includes the facilities manager's time, monthly reports to the board, bid documents and the risk register. Leaving it out would understate the cost and hide work that must be scheduled.
Who Reviewed the Scope
Before the scope was frozen, it was reviewed in two working sessions. The first, with the curator of mammals, two keepers and the veterinarian, walked through how keepers would move otters between the pool and holding dens, clean filters and give medical care. It added a keeper access tunnel and a shift door between dens, both now inside the scope. The second session, with the education manager and the donor's representative, confirmed the graphics and recognition wall. Gathering these requirements before design is what the lion exhibit failed to do.
Sizing Work Packages
Kerzner (2017) advises that work packages be small enough to estimate reliably, assign to one responsible person or firm and track, yet not so small that tracking costs more than it is worth. For the otter exhibit, most work packages represent two to ten weeks of work and between $10,000 and $150,000. The filtration system, for example, is one work package rather than separate packages for each pipe run.
WBS Dictionary Entry: 5.1 Filtration
Description: supply and install sand filters, protein skimmer and ultraviolet sterilizer sized for a 45,000-gallon pool. Acceptance: water clarity and bacterial counts meet the veterinarian's targets for thirty consecutive days. Responsible: mechanical subcontractor, overseen by the zoo's life support technician. Estimate: $118,000 and six weeks of installation. Dependencies: pool shell complete; electrical service available.
Controlling Scope Changes
Every change request will go on a one-page form describing the change, its reason and its estimated effect on cost, schedule and risk. The project manager will review requests weekly. Within the limits the charter gave her, she signs off small requests herself; anything costing more than $25,000 or adding more than two weeks goes to the sponsor, and any change that would exceed the budget or move the opening goes to the board. Approved changes will update the scope statement, the WBS and the baseline. Animal care staff, whose late requests drove the lion exhibit's growth, will review the design before the scope is frozen, so that their needs are inside the scope from the start.
A First Test of the Process
The process has already been used once. In March 2024, the education manager asked for a covered classroom deck beside the viewing window, estimated at $95,000. The project manager recorded the request, estimated that it would add three weeks to construction and exceed the contingency, and sent it to the sponsor, who declined it for this project and placed it on the list for a future gift. A year earlier, such a request might simply have been added.
Conclusion
The scope statement sets what the otter exhibit includes and excludes, and the work breakdown structure divides that scope into 34 work packages that together contain all the work and nothing more. A dictionary entry shows what each package will define, and a change process protects the scope that the lion exhibit failed to protect.
References
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling (12th ed.). Wiley.
Project Management Institute. (2019). Practice standard for work breakdown structures (3rd ed.).
Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.).
MGT 474 Module 3 instructions, in plain terms
Module 3 of Aspen's MGT 474 moves from authorization to definition: what exactly the project will hand over, and how that whole splits into manageable pieces. Refer to the Module 3 directions in your classroom; this example continues the project chartered earlier. Write a scope statement with deliverables, acceptance criteria, exclusions, constraints and assumptions. Build a work breakdown structure that decomposes deliverables into work packages. Explain the rules you followed, such as the 100% rule. Define at least one work package in detail. Describe how scope changes will be requested, evaluated and approved, since uncontrolled changes are a leading cause of overruns, and show the process applied to one request.
How the MGT 474 Module 3 example is put together
The paper continues with Meadowlark Zoo's river otter exhibit. The scope statement lists nine deliverables, from site and utilities to animal readiness, and sets acceptance criteria such as a load-tested viewing window and keeper sign-off on holding areas. Exclusions include a second species and parking changes. PMI's 2019 standard on breaking down project work explains the 100% rule and why decomposition should follow deliverables. Kerzner's textbook suggests work packages small enough to estimate and assign. A table shows the WBS to the second level with work package counts. A dictionary entry for the filtration system gives its description, acceptance criteria, responsible party, estimate and dependencies. The change control process sends requests to a weekly review, records cost and schedule effects and requires sponsor approval for anything over $25,000.
MGT 474 Module 3 rubric: what earns full marks
Marks go to scope statements whose acceptance tests can be measured and whose exclusions are explicit, to breakdowns built from deliverables that capture all the work and only that work, and to a change process with enough teeth to stop quiet growth. This example writes acceptance criteria that can be tested, such as thirty days of passing water tests. The WBS uses nouns for deliverables, not activities, and accounts for all the work, including project management. The dictionary entry shows what a work package contains. The change control process names who decides at each level, tying back to the authority set in the charter, and the paper shows it working on a real request.
Common MGT 474 Module 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Work breakdown structures often list tasks in time order instead of breaking deliverables into parts. Organize by deliverables, using nouns, and let scheduling come later. Another weakness is leaving out project management, testing or closing work; the 100% rule requires all the work. Write acceptance criteria that can be measured. State exclusions plainly, since unstated boundaries invite scope creep. Keep work packages small enough to estimate and assign. Include at least one dictionary entry. Finally, design a change process that records cost and schedule effects before approval. Involve the people who will use the result when writing the scope.
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MGT 474 Module 3 questions, answered
What does MGT 474 Module 3 usually ask for?
Aspen's MGT 474 covers scope in this module, so writing a scope statement and building a work breakdown structure for a project is typical. Read your classroom prompt.
What is a work breakdown structure?
A hierarchical decomposition of the project's total scope into deliverables and work packages.
What is the 100% rule?
The principle that a WBS includes all the work defined by the project scope, including project management, and no work outside it.
Where can I find a free MGT 474 Module 3 sample paper?
The example above writes a scope statement and builds a nine-deliverable work breakdown structure for a zoo's river otter exhibit, with a change control process.
How do you prevent scope creep?
By stating exclusions, writing measurable acceptance criteria and routing every change request through a process that records its cost and schedule effects before approval.